An agreement to participate in any activity, including sexual activity. Consent in the context of sexual relations, is when all parties agree to get involved with each other physically and sexually. It’s what happens between individuals by choice and everyone involved has the freedom and ability to make choices. Consent is not a one-time agreement and can be revoked at any time. Consent needs to be clear, coherent, willing and ongoing for it to be true consent. It can be verbal, non-verbal, or both. Without consent, sexual activity is sexual assault or sexual violence. Countries have different legal definitions of the age of consent, i.e. the age above which the person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. In India, the age of consent is 18 years.
India has legislation when it comes to sexual harassment under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Work Place (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act), and workplaces are legally mandated to set up processes and create working environments to prevent, protect women from workplace sexual harassment, and offer redress in case of a complaint of sexual harassment. Although the law only covers women who have been sexually harassed at work, many organisations choose to use the law to create policies and practices that cover people of all genders from sexual harassment at the workplace.
Sexual harassment at work can be defined as any type of unwanted physical, verbal, or non-verbal sexual behavior from an employer or co-worker that can be perceived as offensive or demeaning. Sexual harassment can include any kind of unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, verbal comments of a sexual nature. If you feel that you have been or are continuing to be sexually harassed at work, you may wish to file a complaint with the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at your company. A written complaint must be filed within three months of the last incident and you will be asked to present any evidence you have of sexual harassment, which can include texts, emails, or other forms of written communication. After a complaint is filed the ICC will determine how best to act and submit their recommendations to your employer. Based on the severity of the situation, your employer may ask the accused to issue an apology, provide a warning, or possibly terminate the accused and provide you with monetary compensation. For more information on how to file a sexual harassment complaint at your workplace, check out this video. For more details about the law and about creating a workplace that is safe and inclusive for all staff, check out TARSHI’s online on this topic here.
The act of pressuring or forcing another person to have sex is rape, whether the two people are married or not. Marital rape, or the act of sexual intercourse with one’s marital partner without their consent, is all too common in India. Even if you are married, you should never feel pressured to have sexual relations with your partner. Any activities must be consensual between partners.
Removing a condom during sex without the other person knowing is otherwise known at stealthing, or non-consensual condom removal (NCCR). This is undoubtedly a form of rape because often people’s consent is contingent on the fact that they are using proper contraception. You may not have agreed to the sexual act had a condom not been involved because you could get pregnant or contract an STI. There are currently no laws specific to stealthing, however, according to India’s amendment to rape law in 2013, stealthing could technically be considered rape if there was proof that the sex was conditional on the person wearing a condom.
According to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, abortions are legal up to the first 20 weeks of pregnancy and between 20 to 24 weeks of pregnancy under certain conditions, and are illegal after that point, except in emergency medical procedures where the pregnant person’s life is at risk. Earlier, legality varied depending on if the pregnant person is married or unmarried and doctor’s discretion is necessary in both the cases. The Supreme Court removed this distinction in 2022 and both married as well as single persons are eligible for the full provisions of the law. If someone seeks an abortion to a pregnancy that has occurred due to rape, the law recognises that carrying the foetus to term will cause grave injury to the person’s mental health and the abortion is most often granted.
People over 18 do not need anyone’s consent (except a registered medical practitioner’s opinion) to go ahead with an abortion. Those below 18 need the consent of a parent or a legal guardian.
The termination of pregnancy can be done using medical methods (i.e. taking by-prescription-only medication) or surgical methods, depending on the stage of the pregnancy. Please note that the opinion of one (for pregnancies less than 20 weeks) or two (for pregnancies between 20 and 24 weeks) registered medical practitioners is essential for the process of medical termination of pregnancy. For more details, please check this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XCC3F-Nbs0
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act permits licensed medical professionals from government or private institutions to perform abortion in India.
If you are over the age of 18, irrespective of your marital status, the only people that need to consent to the termination of the pregnancy are a doctor and yourself. You will need the consent of one or two doctors depending on how far along the pregnancy is. If you are under 18 then you will also need the consent of a legal guardian. Other than that, obtaining an abortion is completely up to you, because it’s you that the pregnancy affects the most. Even if your partner or in-laws do not agree to the abortion, you are still eligible to get one. Please keep in mind that these are legal stipulations and lived experiences can be different.
In 2018, the Indian Supreme Court struck down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and decriminalised same-sex relations between consenting adults. India has policies in place that criminalise the discrimination of people based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Employment discrimination and housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity are both illegal in India. Conversion therapy for LGBTQIA+ people is also banned. Despite these policies, homosexuality is still heavily stigmatised in India.
The NALSA judgement (National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India, 2014) by the Supreme Court of India recognized the right of transgender individuals to self-identify their gender. This means that you have the legal right to choose and express your gender identity, regardless of your assigned sex at birth. In 2019, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act was passed to protect transgender individuals from discrimination, violence, and hate crimes. However, there have been concerns about certain provisions in the Act, and efforts are ongoing to amend it to better protect transgender rights.
It’s important to note that while these rights and protections exist, implementation and awareness vary across different regions of India. There is still work to be done to ensure that transgender individuals enjoy full and equal rights and acceptance in society.
India does not recognise the right to marry for all people within the LGBTQIA+ communities. Even if you or your partner decide to marry outside of India, the marriage would not be considered legal as per Indian laws. In 2023, the Indian Supreme Court ruled against marriage equality for all members of the LGBTQIA+ community and directed the parliament to form a committee and discuss changing the law for validating the union. It is legal in India for members of the LGBTQIA+ community to marry, provided that the marriage be with someone of a different gender. It is legal for transgender people to marry, but they can only get married to a person of a different gender from what they are legally registered as, which may not be in line with their gender identity.
Sharing private photos on WhatsApp and other social media platforms can be a fun and healthy way of exploring one’s desires. Like any online activity, it comes with its risks and it is important to know all the facts before deciding to do it. If you share a private photo of yourself to someone that you may believe is confidential, they now have the ability to share that picture with someone else. Even if you are sending this to someone you trust, there’s always a possibility that their phone can get hacked and the picture might be shared to others or posted on social media. It is also important to note that if you are under the age of 18, sharing or being in possession of a sexually explicit photo can be deemed child pornography and is criminalised in India. Even if you are sending photos of yourself, it can be considered illegal.
If you wish to share your private photos, there are ways to ensure your safety and privacy. Click this article on ways to engage in safe sexting.
If someone is threatening to share nudes of you without your consent, the best thing to do is to document these threats. This might include taking screenshots of the threats in order to use against that person. According to Indian law, under Sections 66 and 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, threatening to send explicit photos of someone else without their consent or blackmailing them using such photos is a criminal offence that can lead to several years of prison time. If somebody is threatening to leak such photos, remember not to panic and to present any evidence you have to the police. This is your best chance of being legally protected and for criminal action to be taken.
If someone is using the internet to repeatedly harass you or track what you are doing online, then you could be experiencing cyberstalking. Cyberstalking is a criminal offence in India and is punishable with up to 3 years of prison time. If you are experiencing cyberstalking, the best thing you can do is block and report that person. It is also recommended that you try to collect as much evidence as you can of the stalking. If the issue persists, you can contact your local police and report the crime so that they can take it forward. You can also report the stalker to cybercrime.gov.in. Check out Tech Sakhi to access a helpline regarding this.
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO) in India criminalises any sexual endangerment of a person under 18 years of age. This can include any physical, verbal, or non-verbal actions that are deemed sexual in nature and place a child’s welfare in danger, such as showing an underaged person explicit sexual content, forcing or pressuring them to exhibit their body or any part of their body, or repeatedly following or stalking a child, whether physically or over the internet. If you or your child has even been the victim of such actions, you should report such behaviour to the police. The Special Juvenile Police Unit is trained to handle such situations. If you are interested in learning more about the POCSO Act you can check out this link.
Generally, we recommend that any kind of formal CSE training with students should be conducted by a counsellor or educator who is trained on how to teach these topics and in collaboration with an organisation (e.g. a school or an NGO) that is able to advise on how to go about sessions like these while keeping in mind POCSO guidelines, to ensure the safety of all children and young people concerned. TARSHI conducts trainings/workshops with teachers and educators on how to provide age-appropriate information on sexuality to students. You can find out more information on TARSHI’s CSE Workshops for Teachers and Educators here. That being said, it is important for students to receive information on these topics from multiple sources, so if you are a parent or educator, we encourage you to talk to your children about CSE. Even if you do not have formal training in CSE, you can find more information on how to go about these topics through TARSHI’s publications or by reading this FAQ page.